National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_Oct Alt 2/25/10 2:56 PM Page 6 NEWS BRIEFS Minnesota Nurses Gear Up for Major Contract Negotiations T MINNESOTA welve thousand nurses in the Twin Cities and 4,000 more across the state will determine their workplace conditions for the next three years as they sit down to contract talks in the coming months with 32 different hospital systems. Surveys completed early this year reveal a tightly unified membership eager to defend their nursing practice and advance the safety of patients in their care. The Twin Cities pension is especially valued by Metro nurses. The Minnesota Nurses Association negotiated this definedbenefit plan in 1962 as the first multiemployer pension agreement for nurses in the nation. Unlike 401(k) plans, a definedbenefit plan pays out the same set amount to retirees regardless of stock market performance. Employers have sent multiple signals they intend to seek concessions in negotia6 N AT I O N A L N U R S E tions, specifically targeting the pension plan. But each announcement only intensifies nurse solidarity. "People couldn't find a pen fast enough when we asked them to sign a petition (of support for the pension)," said MNA Pension Negotiations Committee Chair, Kristen Schneider. She went on to point out that the benefit is essential to keep nurses at the bedside in the face of a nurse shortage looming by the end of the decade. The eve of bargaining for the pension comes on the heels of a Minneapolis Star Tribune report that Minnesota's hospitals are enjoying substantial profits (on top of impressive reserve balances) and CEOs are still receiving lucrative compensation packages. Twin Cities hospitals earned $327 million in profits in the first three quarters of 2009 alone, while laying off nearly 1750 employees. The CEO of Allina, parent company of the Twin Cities' largest hospital, Abbott Northwestern, saw his salary increase over 37 percent from 2008 to 2009, to $1.74 million. W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G "Over the years, we have given up pay and other benefits to get the pension where it is," said MNA President Linda Hamilton. "The stock market was such that it didn't cost hospitals much money. Now that the stock market went south, they have to start putting money in and they're crying foul. The question is, who's taking the risk, is it us or is it them?" Besides protecting pensions, ensuring safe staffing is a major goal, Hamilton said. Twin Cities hospitals have been consistently increasing the number of patients assigned to nurses, using staffing grids that don't take into account how sick patients are, she said. Current contract language allows nurses to close a unit to new patients if they don't have the staff to safely care for them; hospital management claims the provision imposes an unfair burden on them, while nurses want to strengthen it. The nurses also want to preserve their health benefits against management demands for cost-sharing, and clearly define which work must be performed by a registered nurse. JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2010

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